In Pari Delicto

In Pari Delicto

[Latin, In equal fault.] A descriptive phrase that indicates that parties involved in an action are equally culpable for a wrong.

When the parties to a legal controversy are in pari delicto, neither can obtain affirmative relief from the court, since both are at equal fault or of equal guilt. They will remain in the same situation they were in prior to the commencement of the action.

in pari delicto

adv. (in pah-ree dee-lick-toe) Latin for "in equal fault," which means that two (or more) people are all at fault or are all guilty of a crime. In contract law, if the fault is more or less equal then neither party can claim breach of the contract by the other; in an accident, neither can collect damages, unless the fault is more on one than the other under the rule of "comparative negligence"; in defense of a criminal charge, one defendant will have a difficult time blaming the other for inducing him or her into the criminal acts if the proof is that both were involved.

IN PARI DELICTO. In equal fault; equal in guilt. Neither courts of law nor
equity will interpose to grant relief to the parties, when an illegal
agreement has been made, and both parties stand in pari delicto. The law
leaves them where it finds them, according to the maxim, in pari delicto
potior est conditio defendentis et possidendis. 1 Bouv. Inst. n. 769.

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